Wrench



C. 0. BORKMAN.

WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED sEPT.1. 1921.

l ,428,835, Patendsept. 12,1922.

@Houd ms Patented Sept. 12, 1922.

PATENT ermee.

'CARL '0. BOR'KMAN, 0F VICTOR, COLORADO.

WRENCH.

Application filed September 1, 1921.

T0 all w 7mm t may cow/cera Be it known that CARL O. BORKMAN, a citizenof the United States, residing at Vic tor, in the county of Teller andState of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inWrenches; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improved wrench of the clinch-adjustabletype which can be advantageously used upon pipes.

The principal object of the invention is to generally improve uponwrenches of this class by producing one of extreme simplicity anddurability, which is such in construction `that it can be quicklyadjusted to fit various .diameters of pipes with one hand.

Another' and very important object of the invention is to provide awrench embodying thevusu'al handle and fixed jaw, together with vafreely movable jaw slidably mounted on the handle and held 4in variousset positions by novel mechanism which embodies a locking lever or catchcarrying a spring which yexerts tension against themovablc jaw tomaintain the latter in various positions in which it is placed by handprevious to engaging it with ythe work, after which it functions to holdthe movable jaw in engagement with the work, and has the additionalfunction of automatically moving the locking lever to operative positionwhen taking a new grip.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wrench of theforegoing construction, the movable jaw being so shaped and connectedwith the slidable carrier that it automatically obtains a more effectivegrip on the pipe when the handle is moved in the vdirection for turningthe latter, this particular shape being also advantageous in that itenables the wrench to be quickly and veasily disengaged from the work.

A still further object of the invention is to devise a wrench of thetype set forth above, wherein t-he parts are so arranged that theaforesaid spring coacts with the movable aw in a manner to move said jawaway from thework when the lever is de pressed by the finger, wherebyto'facilitate Serial No. 497,562.

disengagement of the wrench from the work.

yOther objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent duringthe course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and inwhich like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout thesame:

Figure l is a side elevational view, with a portion of the carrierremoved, showing the parts in their normal position.

Figure Qis an edge elevational view of `the improved wrench.

Figure is a view like Fig. l showing the position of the parts at thetime the wrench is engaged with a piece of pipe.

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional View taken substantially on the planeof the line 4 4 of Fig. l.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, l designates a handle which isequipped .at its outer end with a laterally disposed fixed jaw 2.Slidably mounted on this handle is a substantially U-shaped carrier 3,between the side portions of which, a movablesubstantially arcuatetoothed aw 4 is Vpivotal'ly connected at one 4end as indicated at 5. Itis to be noted here that the inner edge portion of this aw is vroundedas indicated at '6 to serve a purpose to be hereinafter described. Alsodisposed between and pivot'ed to the side portions of the carrier 3 is alocking lever 7 which is fulcrumed between its ends as indicated at 8.Along its inner edge, this lever 7 is equipped with a tooth orprojection 9 which is designed to be received in yone of the depressions10 formed along the inner edge of the handle. Anchored lat one of itsends tothe intermediate portion of the lever 7 "is a comparativelystro-ng flat spring 11 which is of such a length that the free Aend ofone of the arms thereof bears against the curved inner end or surface 6of the movable ja-w 4. Note should be made of the fact that vthe pointof engagement of the spring arm just mentioned, is inward of 'the pivotpin, that is in rear of said pin. Hence, as-before indicated, the springserves four important points. First, it maintains the jaw yin engagementwith the worl. Second, it holds roo not least, it serves to swing thejaw away from the work, whereby to facilitate disengagement of thewrench from the work, this engaged with the pipe.

outward movement of the jaw taking place when the lever is depressed topermit sliding movement of the guide. lt' is also to be stated here thatby an arcuate jaw in the manner shown, the latter is permitted to swingon its pivot so that it can be swung outwardly a considerable distanceto enable the innermost or intermediate teeth to be Furthermore, it isyet to be pointed out that a pin 12 is passed transversely through theside portions of the carrier 3 to limit the canting of this part of thedevice, this pin bearing against the inner edge of the handle lasshown.- ,y

The operation of the improved wrench is as follows: l move the vjawscomparatively closetogether for engaging them with a rather small pipe,

it will be seen that it is only necessary tov place the/thumb againstthe upper end'of the lever 7 as indicated in Figure 3 and *to pushinwardly. Such action lifts the toothed projection 9 out of thedepression in which it is then seated and the carrier can be slid alongthe handle to place the movable jaw. l vat the desired point. To

obtain theinitial grip on the pipe, the movable jaw 4L is manuallyforced into engageinent with the pipe and the spring 11 which exerts atension against same, serves to hold it in the position to which it hasbeen moved. To turn lthe pipeit is onlynecessary to move the handle inthe ,direction of the arrow A. Due to the peculiar shape of the movablejaw, it will be seen that such movement of the handle will cause the jawvto yobtain a tighter and more effective grip on the pipe as is moved inthis direclVhen moving the handle in an opmatically disengaged from thepipe and the spring 11 will maintainthe latter in a position to grip thepipeagain when the handle ismoved in the direction first named.

By carefully considering the description in connection with thedrawings, persons obtained with the construction and arrangefamiliarwith devices of this class will doubtless be able to obtain a clearunderstanding of they invention. Therefore, a more lengthy and detaileddescription is deemed unnecessary.

Since probably the best results may be ment herein shown and described,this is taken as the preferred embodiment of the invention. However, Iwish it to be-understood that minor changes coming within Assuming thatit is desired to the scope of the subjoined claims maybe reous adjustedpositions, and unitary means i carried entirely by ls aid lever andoperatively engaged with themovable jaw` for maintaining the latter invarious positions prior to engagingfit with the work, for

holding it in engagement with the work,

for :rendering the aforesaid kco-acting means effective, and` forswingingv the jaw kaway from the work when the outer endfof the lever ispressed tow-ard the handle to render the aforesaid co-acting meansineffective. 2. A wrench comprisinga handle' having i a laterallydisposed fixed jaw at its outer end, a carrier slidably mounted on saidhandle, a movable jaw pivotally connected at its inner endto saidcarrier, the inner end of said. jaw being rounded or curved, a lockingpawl or lever fulcrumed between .the ends on said carrier, coactingmeans between the lever and handle lfor' holding the carrier vinvariousvadjustedpositions, j and a fiat spring connected in the`intermediate part of said lever` and bearing. at its: free end on thecurvedor roundedV inner end `of the pawl yinward of the pivot point ofthe latter, said spring serving to maintain the .jaw` in variouspositions to hold it incengagement with the worlrto render the aforesaidcoacting means effective and servingto 'swing the vjaw vaway lfrom ,thework when the lever is pressed to render the aforesaid coacting meanslineffective. A f

3. A wrench ofthe class described comprising a handle having a laterallydisposed stationary jaw at its outer end ,and being provided along itsinner edge witha plurality ofclosely spacedv depressions, a :sub-

'stantially U-shapedl carrier having its side portions disposedon'opposite sides of said lhandle, a pin passingthrough the sideportions of the carrier and engageable with the inner edge of saidhandle for limiting the degree of canting of the carrier,` asubstantially arcuate toothed jaw pivoted at oneend between the sideportions of said carrier adjacent the upper'cornersthereof, the

inner pivoted` end of said jaw being rounded or curved, a manuallyactuated locking lever fulcrumed between its ends von the side portionsof said carrier 4adjacent the lower corners of said side portions, theedge of said lever adjacent the inner edge of the aforesaid handle beingflattened to extend in substantial parallelism with said handle able jawfor maintaining the latter in variand being equipped with a lug orprojection ous set positions, and for holding said lug designed forreception in one of the aforein said depression. 10 said depressions,and a flat spring secured In testimony whereof I have hereunto set tosaid lever intermediate the ends of the my hand.

latter, 4the free end of said spring bearing against the curved innerend of said mov- CARL O. BORKMAN.

